by David P. Greisman - He thanked every fan and reporter who approached him, each saying that they thought he had won the fight. He spent the next morning and afternoon reposting and replying to others’ sentiments on Twitter, all in support of a boxer they believed had deserved the victory.

It all served as cold comfort to Steve Cunningham.

Every voice, every message only added to the outrage. Rather than soothe him, they only underlined the painful reality of what he, and they, could only see as a robbery.

“What more can I do, other than knock a dude out?” Cunningham said afterward. “What more can I do?”

He had done all he could for 12 rounds against Tomasz Adamek.

He had not been knocked down, as had happened three times four years ago, when they had first fought.

He had not been badly hurt, had not been drawn into a war he could not win, had not strayed too far from a strategy of discipline, of using speed and movement to offset his stronger but slower pursuer.

He had not been awarded the decision.

One judge gave Adamek seven rounds to Cunningham’s five. Another judge scored it even wider for the Polish heavyweight, at eight rounds to four. Only one official observer had Cunningham ahead, seeing it seven to five.

That single dissenting vote joined a larger chorus. Yet it was just those other two sets of numbers that truly counted.

This is the heartbreak of being a boxer, of being involved in a sport where the scores are not accumulated via baskets, goals, runs or touchdowns, but instead are decided by a trio of people seated feet away from the action. There is the cliché of a fighter taking his fate into his own hands, of taking his opponent out and making certain that the result is not left to those three observers positioned along the ring apron.

That is not always possible. Sometimes a fighter can only hope to do his job as well as he desires, and then he can only hope that the judges do their jobs as well as the boxers deserve for them to do.

In this article, Cunningham reiterates a point I made some time ago when addressing another boxing robbery. A loss isn't just a number in the "L" column; it represents, among other things, a loss of future earnings for the affected athlete. "Robbery" isn't just slang.

I sincerely hope that the noise being raised over this latest controversy has a positive effect for the future of our sport. I encourage Steve to continue his public indignation. Corruption and incompetence are killing boxing, especially for the "little guy". The fans and the fighters have to care. Otherwise, no one else will.

"( NOTE: The author’s fight report from this past weekend on Adamek-Cunningham 2, titled “Adamek Defeats Cunningham, Scoring Mishap Too,” has been corrected to note that ring announcer Michael Buffer says he did not misread the 115-115 scorecard he initially read for boxing judge Deb Barnes. Buffer says that the score he initially read was as written — and that Greg Sirb of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission then came into the ring and corrected the scoring for Barnes to reflect that she had actually scored the bout for Adamek.)"

It was more than just a lack of quality in those judges. It was pure corruption. You don't score your card, then after the fight, after the scores have been announced decide to change two rounds somehow to give one guy the win....maybe it was just Greg Sirb taking his corrupt greed as a member of the PSAC to change the scores himself.

These guys need to have lawsuits taken out against them. They're ruining people's lives, literally. Judges need to be fired and banned from boxing for incompetence and corrupt officials should be jailed for fraud and bribery.

I have a copy of the master scorecard. Barnes' round by round numbers add up to 115-113. Whoever gave Buffer Barnes' score gave him the wrong number, but there wasn't any malfeasance. The only problem I see with the master scorecards is that even the second number given to Buffer was wrong — they had Barnes as having Adamek ahead 106-103 after 11. She then gave Cunningham the 12th, but the master scorecard reads 115-112 instead of 115-113.

-David

Quote:

Originally Posted by BennyST

It was more than just a lack of quality in those judges. It was pure corruption. You don't score your card, then after the fight, after the scores have been announced decide to change two rounds somehow to give one guy the win....maybe it was just Greg Sirb taking his corrupt greed as a member of the PSAC to change the scores himself.

These guys need to have lawsuits taken out against them. They're ruining people's lives, literally. Judges need to be fired and banned from boxing for incompetence and corrupt officials should be jailed for fraud and bribery.

Hugely disappointed for Cunningham. He made Adamek look pretty silly at times, but it was obvious they weren't going to give him the W. In my mind, Adamek has clearly lost twice this year - first to Chambers and now Cunningham.